Pride & Prejudice Book Club Podcast

Reading Kitty Wren's Trapped with the Most Vexing Man in the World is kind of like eating a really good chocolate chip cookie.

You know the recipe. You've had many cookies before. But when someone gets it just right? It's *so* delicious and incredibly satisfying.

With this book, we've got all the ingredients for a squeal-worthy Pride and Prejudice variation: a stranded Elizabeth, a worried and protective Darcy, an overcrowded inn, a little forced proximity, some excellent banter, and just enough kissing to make us want to kick our feet (or, at least Sharon wanted to).

We have a couple of quibbles, but overall, this was exactly the kind of sweet and satisfying variation we love reading!

Considering this is one of Kitty's first published books, we can't wait to see what she comes up with next...

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Sharon Cortez

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

✏️ Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd

When Kitty Wren decided to publish one of the Pride and Prejudice variations she'd been secretly writing, she hadn't even told her husband the stories existed. A few months later, she's writing full-time, releasing books at an astonishing pace, and having an absolute blast doing it!

This week, Emilie welcomes Kitty to the podcast to talk about her unexpected journey from devoted JAFF reader to published author, and the romantic comedies that inspire her writing. From trapping Darcy and Elizabeth in wine cellars to giving Caroline Bingley a surprisingly sympathetic love story, Kitty has a talent for finding the funny, sweet, and occasionally ridiculous possibilities in Austen's world.

We also talk about our shared love of low-angst romance, the joy of seeing Darcy and Elizabeth actually happy together, favorite variations we return to, and why Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle really ought to reunite for another Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

If you love stories that make you laugh, swoon, and kick your feet, Kitty might just be a new favorite author.

Emilie doesn't believe in soulmates. Which makes it a little strange that she is such a sucker for soul mark stories! Give Darcy and Elizabeth matching tattoos, matching magical melodies, or some other cosmic indication that they are absolutely, unequivocally meant to be together, and she will eat. it. up!

Which makes this week's story a great fit. Sharon and Emilie are discussing Sarah Courtney's Mark of Character, a Pride and Prejudice variation where people with a close tie to the land are born with soul marks that identify the person they're destined to be with. Elizabeth has one. Darcy has one. There's just one small problem: Darcy is already engaged to Caroline Bingley, who supposedly has a matching soul mark of her own.

So Darcy and Elizabeth are drawn to each other almost against their will, Caroline is working overtime to keep them apart, and even in a world where Darcy and Elizabeth are literally destined to be together, the path to happily ever after refuses to be smooth.

We have so much to talk about!

We love the streamlined world building, the devious Caroline, and the utilization of side characters in the story. If Sarah Courtney is reading this: more, please!

Episode Credits:

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Sharon Cortez

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

What if Darcy marrying Caroline Bingley...actually wouldn’t be that bad?

We know. We KNOW.

But somehow that’s where we ended up while discussing Darcy’s Marriage Pact by Cat Gardiner, a modern Pride and Prejudice variation in which Darcy, heartbroken after losing Elizabeth, enters into a legally binding marriage pact with his best friend’s sister, Beanz (aka this story’s Caroline Bingley). There are rules, there are clauses, and there are subsections that include a $1.5 million wedding budget. And absolutely *no one* is allowed to mention Elizabeth Bennet.

Of course, this being a Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth comes back, and all of Darcy's plans fly out the window. But if she hadn't...

We're just saying, maybe we would have read that book, too.

But if you're like us and want more Darcy and Elizabeth, there's still plenty in this story to talk about: how much influence should the people we love have over our romantic choices? (Feeling some serious Persuasion vibes!) When a relationship falls apart, who is responsible for fighting for it? And how much healing does Elizabeth need to do before she’s really ready to build a life with Darcy?

And perhaps most shocking of all: Sharon, our resident modern-variation skeptic, liked this one enough that she may actually be coming around to moderns.

Emilie is rubbing off on her. It was bound to happen eventually!

Episode Credits:

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Sharon Cortez

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

✏️ Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd

Is surviving together the same thing as falling in love?

In Alix James’s Homeless, Elizabeth is stranded in Spain after Mr. Gardiner has been kidnapped, Darcy is in Spain trying to save Pemberley, and a marriage of convenience may be the only way for them to survive.

But Elizabeth really, really doesn’t like Darcy.

When two people face kidnappings, bureaucrats, financial ruin, malaria, and a seemingly endless journey across Spain together, does surviving all of that bring them closer...or just give them a really good trauma bond?

Janette Colon returns to the podcast to talk about the second book in Alix James’s latest series, and after absolutely loving Faceless, we couldn’t help comparing the two. Both throw Darcy and Elizabeth into unusual circumstances and an unexpected marriage, but where Faceless gave them the chance to become friends before Elizabeth knew who Darcy really was, Homeless begins with all of her prejudice against him firmly intact, and repeatedly on display.

Emilie found herself struggling with this version of Elizabeth. How much can you change Lizzy and still have her feel like the character we love? Is a stressful situation alone enough to explain her difference in character? And when Elizabeth herself keeps changing her mind about what she wants, how do we know if she’s really fallen in love?

For those of you who enjoy a quibbly Emilie, this may be the episode for you. Because even though we both enjoyed Homeless, this version of Elizabeth had us asking more than once: But...why, Lizzy? Why?

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🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Janette Colon

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

✏️ Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd